2010?!

I cannot believe it's almost 2010. This year has been by far the fastest year of my life. SO much has happened this year both good and bad, but I have the greatest feeling about this up coming year. I have high hopes :) I hope this is "my" year.
I've started my New Years Resolution list, and I am pretty excited about that. I dont know why I feel I have to wait until January 1st to get so serious about goals, but I look forward to them.
I would share a few..but I am fine tuning.
But I will share one of the goals and that is to organize a service project each month for my group of friends. Those that can make it..great, if not, we'll catch ya the next month.
This last week, right before Christmas my friend and I put together the Secret Santa project I posted about. Thank you for those of you that were able to donate. Your donations were a huge success and because of that, each resident was able to get TWO presents this year.
This really hit close to home for me, as my grandma will be joining a care center soon.
Here's a few pictures from our evening at the care center.
I was so excited about the turn out, because it was snowing so hard that night, so I really appreciate everyone braving the roads!
Here is our wrapping assembly line

Some of the final product

After we finished wrapping the presents we gathered as many residents as we could into a room and sang them Christmas songs and had hot chocolate, juice and treats.
We visited as much as we could...

Before we went caroling in the hallways for those that werent able to leave their rooms. It was such a great night, and I really do have such great friends in my life.
Here is the group


GRAM:
Thank you all again so much for your concern with Gram. She made it through surgery last Monday, and has been recovering in the hospital this week. She has started to talk, and swallow again and is still the biggest fighter, ready to get rid of this cancer! Tomorrow they will do a scan to see if the cancer spread to any other parts of her body (why they didnt do this BEFORE her brain surgery is beyond me). She has kept her spirits up, and I couldnt be more proud of her.
Growing up we always had a tradition that she would come sleep over on Christmas Eve. This year, since she was in the hospital Christmas Eve and since I dont have a family of my own, or a spouse, I was able to go have a sleep over with Gram Christmas Eve night. I had a Christmas movie, and music and gifts all ready for the occasion, but it ended up being a really rough night/morning for her. I am still glad I was able to carry on the tradition, even if "sleep" wasnt part of the deal :)
She will soon be moved into a care center and depending on the results of her test tomorrow, will start radiation treatment. She continues to be the most amazing example in my life.

CHRISTMAS:
I got back to my parents house Christmas morning around 11 AM where my family was waiting with the traditional Christmas breakfast. I was exhausted at this point, but it was still so fun to see all of my nieces and nephews open their presents.
We hung out for a bit at my parents house, and watched a fun Christmas movie with some of the kids.
I cant believe Christmas has come and gone already. CrAzY! I love love love, the build up of Christmas...the parties, the lights, the music..Im so sad it's over. But, on to 2010!
The only thing I asked for for Christmas was a Chia pet. Haha. I have never really had one, and I think they are hilarious. My nice friend surprised me with this beauty...

Even though I am not a huge fan of Obama, I have really nurtured this Obama Special edition Chia. I will show progress IF it grows. I have follow the directions to a "T" so if anyone has any advice on how to make my Chia pet a success, I would greatly appreciate it. I have given it a whole lot of Love and TLC, but so far it doesnt seem to be doing the trick.
Right now it just looks like this with a bunch of seeds

Im not giving up yet!!
I hope everyone had a very very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful year ahead!!

Update on Gram

Thank you all so much for your sweet calls/text/comments/thoughts/prayers...everything. Everyone has been so sweet to my family.

A lot has happened in the last week. My grandma was really sick on Thursday, so my mom and Aunt called 911 to take her back to the hospital.

The last couple of weeks she has gone down hill fast. She was so independent...driving to Heber to visit her son, and taking her friends to lunch, just about 6 weeks ago. Now she cant walk, her speech is super slurred, and her memory fading fast. They suspected she may have had a stroke, but after doing a few tests at the hospital, we found out Friday she had 2 brain tumors.

After the oncologist looked into her scans further, noticed it was eating away at the bone, and working its way into the brain.

This of course, was devastating to us all. Total punch in the gut. This weekend has been very hard on our family as we had to decide by today if she was going to have surgery tomorrow to remove one of the tumors (the size of a lemon) or give her "comfort care" for the rest of her time with us.

The weekend has been the LONGEST as we have all had different opinions and thoughts. Finally, my aunt went to my grandma and asked her if she was ready to visit her brother and sister in heaven....and her response "Im not ready". Anyone who knows my Gram, knows she is a fighter.

So tomorrow, my 87 year old grandma is going in for brain surgery. This was her choice, and we are supporting her. It is going to be very extensive as they have to take out part of her brain and skull and remove the one tumor.

She continues to amaze all of us as she fights for her life. I love her so much and hope and pray all goes well. I guess you just have to trust all is in Gods hands.

Thanks again for all your love, support, and prayers. It means a lot to us all.

Sub 4 Santa

It's the most wonderful time of the year!
And also, a great time to give to those in need.
My friend works at an assisted living center and says a lot of the residents do not get visitors or gifts this time of year. We are organizing a "Secret Santa" for the elderly so they have a gift on Christmas. We will be wrapping all of the gifts this next Tuesday the 22nd and the center will hand them out Christmas morning.
We are still in need of some donations so I wanted to share the list in case any of you are looking for a service project or a way to spread a little Christmas Cheer. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!! I cant believe its here already.

Santa’s Toy Shop
Gift Ideas…

Slippers
Scarves
Hats
Lap Blankets
Sweaters
Sweat Suits
House Dresses
Books
Activity Books
Pictures
Stationary
Movies
Puzzles
Sodas
Treats
Stuffed Animals
Jewelry
Decorations
Lotions
Spa Products
Headphones
Music

Please let me know if you are interested.
PS. If you are interested in knowing which Care Center we are donating to, I can give you that info as well... I just didnt know if I should post it online. You never know!

Gram

Its been a rough couple of months for my Grandma and my family.
My Grandmas health continues to not be in her favor and I feel she is slowly starting to give up her fight.
For the last month I cant stop thinking about her. I am so lucky to be able to be so close to her and see her so often. About 6 weeks ago my mom and I discovered her unable to move and in a lot of pain. We called 911 and after some test were done, found out that she had broken a part of her back. Since then, her strength decreased and she is becoming more and more dependent of others.
Its so hard to see someone you love so much be in so much pain.
My grandma has been my #1 since day one. I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with her growing up. My mom went back to work when I was a child and I would spend a lot of after school hours with my grandma. She is one of my best friends and I have learned so much from her.
She has given me the drive to travel and see the world. I remember growing up always being so excited to pick her up from the airport from one of her many over seas trips. It is because of her, for many reasons I have traveled the world.
I remember being in school and getting those big pink sugar cookies and saving mine to give to my grandma when I got home from school.
I loved going up to her house and swimming during the summers and going in for kool aid and tuna fish sandwhiches. I LOVE hearing of all of her stories..past friends, travels, and what life was like for her at different ages.
She is the hardest worker I have EVER known. She is the biggest fighter I have ever known, fighting through breast cancer, 2 heart attacks, a big stomach surgery and many other battles that she almost breezes through. That is why this one is so difficult, she isnt bouncing back like Gram usually does.
Everyday I just think more and more about her, and give thanks to the lord for letting her be a part of my life. I am so lucky to have her and for everything she has taught me. I hope and pray I have more time with her, but if not I am grateful for every second.
I love you Grandma.
Love Miss Muffet.

Go Jazz!

This year for my work Christmas party they invited all of us to a Utah Jazz game. I LOVE the Jazz. I was a huge fan last year, and have tried to keep up this year but Ive been so busy this season.
I was so super pumped when I heard we were going to a Jazz game.

My company even surprised us with personalized jersey's with our nicknames and favorite numbers.

They got me a childs small...so mine is kind of a belly shirt :)
We had a nice little visit from the Bear

There was close to 150 of us, and they drew 20 names of employees to go down to the court during half time and give the players five on their way back to the court. I seriously wanted it so bad I could taste it. Of course, my name wasnt drawn but this incredibly nice friend of mine at work gave me his ticket because he could have cared less. I was seriously SO SO excited. We were riding the elevator down and I couldnt stand it.
We got on the court and gave all the guys a high five. My very favorite player Paul Millsap ( I have his jersey as well) was the last player to come out!

I literally started clapping my hands when I saw him and reached out my hand so proud...he didnt give me the time of day. Its debatable if our hands even touched. He amused me by at least putting his hand out, but there was no solid connection. Stupid new contract went to his head. I was his biggest fan, even when most of the time he was on the bench...
Oh well. Nonetheless, I had a killer time! Thanks Del Sol!

*****************************************
On a completely different note, not only do I love the Jazz, I love my dad. He is one of a kind. He is so stinkin funny. He can fix anything, and in the most unique ways. His glasses broke the other day and he wasnt able to get into the eye DR for a couple days so took matters into his own hands!
He glued them back together some how and used these scissors as clamps. Oh man. I was laughing so hard.

There is a picture of my sister wearing his glasses before they took the "clamps" off. It is SO funny, but I promised her I wouldnt put it online.
You do what you gotta do to fix things!
This is one of many reasons why I love this man.

November come and gone!

I can not believe it is December already. It kills me. I always thought people were crazy when they said time goes by faster when your older...its true.
And I am older :( I turned 25 this last week and It feels so old!
I was such a lucky girl on my birthday, thank you everyone so much for the nice birthday wishes! I really appreciate it. I have no idea why, but I forgot my camera for the fun festivities, but I did remember it on the day my work friends decorated my desk. They were very thoughtful, and had the most delicious cupcakes ever waiting for me.


I went and saw The Blindside on my actual birthday. If you havent seen it, I would totally recommend it. I really liked it.
It is a tradition in our family to go out to the desert the Saturday after Thanksgiving to gather some greens for Christmas decorations. We shoot guns (well the boys shoot guns), sit by the fire, and freeze. I hadnt been in years so it was fun. I took Ecko for her first trip to the desert!


After I got back from the desert I went to a BYU- Utah party. Poor Utes...well get em' next year!

Group

From there, my aunt had a nice little dinner party for my birthday. She had take out from Jasons Deli and we the most delicious strawberry shortcake dessert.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I am so excited for the holidays this year!

Whats been goin' on...

I feel like I havent been doing a very good job of blogging. Its so much easier just throwing some photos onto facebook and updating your status every once in awhile, but I guess I will still blog for now. So if anyone that looks at this is also a facebook friend and you just see the same things in both places...sorry!
I am definately more of a picture taker then a writer lately so basically here is my month in review with mostly pictures.
My work had a pumpkin carving contest and I work in the accounting department which for the most part is a bunch of duds, but the girls came together and decided we would participate this year..and we won! So the nerd heard pulled through.
Here is Alejandra and I carving the pumpkin

The finished product. Yep! Real gold fish :)

For Halloween this year I was in such a weird mood. I LOVE dressing up, but I just wasnt feeling the whole party scene. But I did throw out a couple costumes for some low key events.
I was a Chinese take out box one night, but didnt get a picture.
The second party I went to I was Oprah Winfrey

And then for work I was a Roller Derby girl named Punky Bruiser.

The night before Halloween my mom had us all over for her famous soups and doughnuts and apple cider. I love that tradition. Its so fun to see the kiddos in their costumes. Could they be any cuter?

Quite possibly my favorite photo of the year. He is a horse jocky. Love it.

Right after Halloween, my Grandma had a really rough week and ended up back in the hospital. She is still not doing well, please keep her in your thoughts.
I was pretty sad about my Gram and my amazing friends sent me these the next day at work. Such a great group of people. Thanks everyone!
I also attended the David Gray concert at Kingsbury Hall. Such a great concert. Lisa Hannigan opened for him and I loved love loved her. I would recommend looking up her stuff if you like more of the chill indy kind of thing. A few of us before the concert

I went to Pats BBQ for my first time ever this week. I love a good BBQ place, but I would have to say I wasnt thrilled with the food. But the company was great!!
We celebrated Sabrinas birthday and had a grand ol time.

I love meat. I couldnt be a vegetarian to save my soul.

I found this amazing video online yesterday. I watched it about 10 times and just laughed harder and harder each time. I thought I would try and recreate it in my office. With a little help from Ale and I think we about got it!

We are in work out clothes because our work had our annual Turkey Bowl yesterday (Flag football tournament). My team took second..more picture to follow.
Thats about my month in a nutshell :)

Disney park take 2.

This last weekend some friends were going to Cali to visit Disneyland and our friend Emilie. I decided last minute to join the crew. I was kind of hesitant since I was just in Disneyworld last month,but So glad I went. It was a good chance to take my mind off of things and go have fun with an old friend!
We boarded a jet plane on Thursday evening and off to Long Beach we went. Once we got there we decided it would be fun to all try and fit in one car. Great idea...for the most part. Getting to the hotel was a bit tricky with all of our luggage on our laps!

Once we got settled into the hotel, we headed off to dinner. We went to this place called Dave and Busters, because everyone had seen it on TV. Basically it was like a Chuck E Cheese for adults. Lots of fun arcade games with a restaurant right in the middle. And then TVs all around if you wanted to watch sports. This was my favorite game...mostly because I won.

Its like skee ball and horse racing mixed. Loved it.
The next morning we went to Disneyland. My friend Mason is a DIE HARD Disney/Halloween fan so we were there BEFORE Disney land opened up until it closed at Midnight, and I am not kidding. My feet killed.
Mason made us these great shirts that I thought were hilarious.

Em had to work here and there over our trip and just decided last minute to come, so we didnt have a shirt for her. But I loved it because we got to ride the rides together :)
The lines were crazy long, but we made the best out of it. One of the lines I threw out the idea of Down by the banks and they took it right up. I was pretty happy.
I hate to brag again...but I won :)
Here's the final 3

We also played Telephone, and made up some sweet handshakes.
I had the first experience of riding Tower of Terror. And the dirtbags wouldnt tell me what to expect. I took a picture of the picture, so its kind of blurry, but if you can see my face I was terrified.

Probably my favorite group photo of the trip.

The next morning we woke up and had breakfast in Huntington Beach at a little restaurant called Sugar Shack.

Anyone who knows me, knows I have spent my fair share of time at the beach. Never in my life have I been to a beach where I was laying out in the middle of a cloud. It was the weirdest thing ever. You could feel little beads of liquid and couldnt even see the ocean from a short distance. It was still great though. Em and I threw the frisbee, and Sabrina and I quoted FRIENDS episodes.
Playing Frisbee

Surprisingly enough, I still got some sun!
Then we went back to the hotel, got showered and ready and went to In & Out for some dinner and then onward to Universal Studios for their Horror Nights.
If you havent been to Universal Studios its where they make movies and TV shows...so everything is so real. Well they turned the whole thing into a haunted house. It really was scary. But so fun. It didnt open until 7 and we got stuck in traffic for 3hrs due to a wreck so we didnt get their until late.
Simpson Ride

The lines were insanely long. By far the longest lines I have ever stood in.This is one line, in one section. This line went on for hrs..

By then it was like 1 in the morning (The park started closing at 2) and anyone again who knows me, knows I am a pretty early to bedder. I like sleep. I am in bed on average around 10. So by this time with all these people and being 1 in the AM and already have been scared for a couple hrs I decided to bow out of the line half way part way through and wait for them to go through one of the haunted housed. Sabrina decided to come with me. We sat there for what seemed like forever right by the exit until a cop came up to us with a flash light telling us we need to leave. We looked at our watches at it was 2:45 AM!! We told them we were waiting for our friends in the haunted house. They told us there was no one left in the haunted house and then we realized the streets of Universal Sudios were dead. Sure enough, the group had walked right past us and we had no idea. At least we had the keys so they couldnt leave us!
When we walked to the car we found this...

We didnt get home and in bed until like 4 in the AM.
The next morning we woke up and went to a local singles ward. Then we grabbed some food, and went back to the hotel where we watched ET and had a little nap. I snuggled right in between Sabrina and Emilie and was OUT.
We woke up and headed to Sprinkles, a little cupcake shop.

Then we went and saw a movie. This is at Fashion Island outside of the movie theatre.

The next morning we were up at 4AM to take back the rental car and catch our flight back to SLC. We flew in and straight to work I went! Look at this pretty sunrise from the airplane...almost worth waking up that early for.

Great Story

I was driving to work this morning and heard this story on the radio. They were talking about a picture of a little girl who didnt want to let go of her dad that was getting ready to depart to Iraq.

I looked up the story when I got to work and thought it was a good one to share.

I think its easy to forget all the men, women and their families that are sacrificing for us daily.

This is a good reminder.

By Tom Henderson:

Some things are just not allowed when soldiers are standing in formation. One of them is 4-year-old girls.
However, there was no soldier stern enough to pry Paige Bennethum of Laureldale, Pa. from her father as he prepared to leave last July for a year-long deployment in Iraq.
Abby Bennethum captured her daughter's emotions in a photograph that she passed along to the Reading Eagle, the newspaper in Berks County, Pa. The image immediately captured many other people's emotions.
Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum was preparing to depart from Fort Dix, N.J., for Iraq, leaving behind his pregnant wife and two little girls. His family was there to see him off. His commanding officer didn't have the heart to tell Paige she had to let go of her daddy.
"I didn't want to let go of him," she told NBC Philadelphia.
Sgt. Bennethum, 30, is scheduled to return home next July. Until then, he's transporting supplies across the Iraqi border. He serves with the 733rd Transportation Company based in Reading, Pa.
Abby Bennethum said she got pregnant right before her husband left for Iraq. "I've heard of deployment babies, but I never thought I'd be having one," she told the Reading Eagle. The couple's other daughter, Lena, is just 10 months old.
Staff Sgt. Bennethum got a four-day pass so he could spend some quality time with his family and they could make the two-hour trip to Fort Dix to see him off. Almost immediately upon arrival, his commanding officer ordered the soldiers to fall in.
"Gotta go," he told his family. But Paige walked up behind him in formation, grabbed his right hand and would not let go.
"I called her a couple of times, but she wouldn't budge," her mother said. She still wishes she was holding her father's hand.
"I just miss my dad right now," Paige told NBC.